Review: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Published January 27, 2015 · Feiwel & Friends
GOODREADS · THE BOOK DEPOSITORY · AMAZON

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR CINDER, SCARLET, AND CRESS.

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

Rating: ★★★★★

Fairest is a strange book to love. It was twisted and brutal, with a main character – Levana – whom you can’t help hate but sympathise with at the same time. With this story, Meyer did something other authors rarely would – humanise a villain. In doing so, she gave readers a deeper understanding of Levana’s actions and motives. It made me more invested in the Lunar Chronicles and how it’ll end – not that I wasn’t already dying for Winter!

While this book gives you a full picture of Queen Levana’s devastating childhood and shows how her actions seemed justified in her mind, it was good that it had not brushed off her malice as okay. And despite how short it was, it gave you all the prep you need for the conclusion.

No matter all the warnings about how disturbing Levana’s past had been, it still stunned me sometimes when she committed many of the horrors she did – some of which was only hinted at in the previous books. Meyer didn’t hold back with the brutality of Levana and in a way, it showed how well she knew her villain (not sure if this should be unsettling).

Also, you’ll get to read about little Cinder and little Winter. Fairest wasn’t only about the circumstances that turned Levana into a villain, but also how her subsequent horrid decisions affected those around her.

As always, Meyer’s plot planning was perfect and there was nothing I could fault her on. It’s crazy how every little detail in the story matches up to the rest of the books. Talk about being the queen of plotting!

Overall, though I was hoping Fairest would quench my need for Winter just a little, it only made me crave it more (someone tell Marissa Meyer her Lunartics are in pain). It was yet another amazing addition to the Lunar Chronicles and if you’ve not read it (and for some reason are still reading this review despite the spoiler warnings), trust me, you need it in your life.